Panel against expanding list for medical-pot use

A committee of state medical professionals is recommending the state health director reject requests to add post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression and migraines to Arizona's medical-marijuana program.

Earlier this week, the Medical Advisory Committee of the Department of Health Services based much of its decision on findings by the University of Arizona. University researchers determined there was insufficient evidence to prove the drug is medically effective in treating those four conditions.

"Because marijuana has not been subjected to any high quality, scientifically controlled testing for any of the petitioned conditions, we find no convincing evidence that marijuana provides a benefit," the panel wrote in a July 17 memo to DHS Director Will Humble, who oversees the state's medical-marijuana program.

"We acknowledge there is anecdotal evidence that using marijuana has helped patients, but there is no way to exclude the possibility that the improvement is due solely to placebo. There is also the potential for harm to patients, if the department were to approve marijuana use for these conditions," the panel wrote.

The committee asked University of Arizona researchers to continue reviewing new literature and studies as they become available.

The Arizona Medical Marijuana Act, approved by voters in 2010, requires the state health department to periodically accept and evaluate petitions to allow new medical conditions into the program. Humble will soon announce his decision on adding PTSD, anxiety, depression and migraines to the program.

More than 31,000 Arizonans currently participate in the medical-marijuana program, citing conditions ranging from chronic pain and cancer to hepatitis C. Humble said the program would expand by as many as 15,000 if post-traumatic stress alone was added as a qualifying condition.